


New Horizons

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Sportsfest 2018 [80]
Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Deciding the Future, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 22:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16105310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: Fuji had a decision to make about his future, pressing a choice between the two different halves of his heart.





	New Horizons

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Sportsfest 2018 bonus round 4.

Many years ago, Tezuka had asked him who he really was as a tennis player. Fuji hadn't known then, but after a long and heartfelt match predicating an even longer journey of a far more personal sort, he learned. Over a decade later, the same question surfaced, but it had nothing to do with tennis.

It had everything to do with Tezuka.

Middle school was a distant memory, a far removed aspect of his life, yet it stood as where the more interesting aspects of his life had begun. He had discovered a lot of things in his early teen years — his love of photography and horticulture, how different he and Yuuta were from one another, and that one person had the power to change everything he thought he knew about his life.

They went to different high schools after Seigaku. Tezuka went to a fancy college prep school with an intense focus on academics and Fuji to one with an arts focus, but every Sunday, they would meet at the old street court near the overpass and play tennis.

And then they would talk. This was what Fuji really looked forward to. A run-down old ramen place was nearby, and they would exchange pleasantries while Fuji scandalized Tezuka with the amount of spice he added to his food. Tezuka would talk about his plans to go to law school.

This was why Tokyo University was a gift to them both. Tezuka got a library full of dusty old law books to keep him busy, and Fuji worked with a world renowned photography professor to turn his hobby into a proper career. 

After his own degree was finished, that was when Fuji’s dilemma started. 

While Tezuka plowed his way through the last few years of law school, Fuji found work right away at a sports magazine. With college and work, respectively, they had very little time for one another. This was where Fuji found himself in his current predicament.

As he read over the two job offers extended to him through the school to make the best of his skills, Fuji had a decision to make.

_ Offer: Junior Staff, Scientific Photography _ _   
_ _ Location: Sapporo _

_ Offer: Staff, Commercial Photography, Read!Japan Inc. _ _   
_ _ Location: Tokyo _

Fuji decided on the simplest course of action: he would just ask.

It was nearly dark before Tezuka returned to the tiny apartment they shared, which rested right between the university and the offices where Fuji worked. The smattering of dust on his forehead told Fuji that he had fallen asleep on an ill-used library book again; the thought made him smile.

“I made dinner,” Fuji offered, doling out curry and rice that was made to be as bland as he could possibly do in good conscience. Tezuka never did have much of a stomach for spicy foods.

Nodding, Tezuka murmured, “Thank you.” 

They ate in relative silence, but while Fuji was clearing the table, he paused and asked, “I could use a second opinion on something.” 

At the sink, Tezuka set down the pan he was scrubbing and hummed. “Your job offers came in.” His face was expressionless, but years of practice honed in on a strange thread of tension beneath the tone of his words. 

“Yes.” 

The dishes were abandoned, and they sat side by side at the kotatsu and sifted through the variety of data Fuji had compiled to help with the decision. Job descriptions, median salaries, cost of living and climate tables for Sapporo — all of it relevant to his choices. However, the one thing he couldn’t quantify with a pamphlet or a graph was whether Tezuka would really let him move to the other side of the country without a word.

“Commercial photography pays more, but scientific photography leans more toward my interests. I’m satisfied with either option,” Fuji offered, hoping to draw an opinion from Tezuka, who kept staring at the Sapporo pamphlets without blinking or even breathing. “So this one, then?”

Tezuka hummed. “You would like it there. You’ve always enjoyed nature photography, so you could easily do projects of your own outside of work. Also, the cost of living is lower.”

“I see.” Fuji took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I would miss a lot about Tokyo, though. All my friends and family are here.” 

Tezuka was silent for a long, turgid minute before he asked, “What would you say if I wanted to go with you?”

The answer was a simple one after that. Fuji framed Tezuka’s face in his hands and brought their lips together for a kiss he had been waiting years to finally give. The deal was sealed when Tezuka pulled Fuji onto his lap and wrapped his arms around Fuji’s waist.

When they parted, Fuji grinned against Tezuka’s mouth and murmured, “We’re going to Hokkaido, then?”

“We are.” Tezuka was smiling the way he did that most people didn’t notice, but Fuji did, and now he knew he always would.


End file.
